Excerpts

Boston’s 100 Greatest Games on:

Game 6 of the 2013 ALCS:The image of Shane Victorino jubilantly circling the bases, contrasted with the image of Prince Fielder dog-paddling in the dirt, summed up the 2013 American League Championship Series. The Tigers might have had more raw talent. But the Red Sox had better baseball players.

Game 7 of the 1987 NBA Eastern Conference Finals:This seven-game scrum was both a physical series and a metaphysical one. It showed what happened when two groups of proud, stubborn men tried to occupy the same space at the same time. The Larry Bird Celtics had won three NBA championships and thought they had at least one more in them. The Isiah Thomas Pistons were NBA-champions-in-waiting who didn’t want to wait.

Bobby Orr’s overtime goal in Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final:It’s the ultimate freeze frame. Orr is suspended in space; the moment is suspended in time. It is the precise instant of change. When Orr had begun his takeoff, the Bruins hadn’t won a title since 1941. When he landed, they were Stanley Cup champions.

Super Bowl XXXVI:Many Pats fans still deride Madden for second-guessing the Patriots when the final drive started. Not many remember what he said at the end. And that’s too bad, because at that moment John Madden verbalized not only what he felt, but what all of New England did: “I’ll tell you, what Tom Brady just did gives me goose bumps.”